New or Used?

Wouldn't we all like to just buy a brand new motorcoach and have all the latest and greatest features right from the start! Hold on there a minute, it's a bit more complex than that to the average joe. (My names Joe and I think i'm rather average.)

Cost

Of course cost is a huge factor and RVs (even the high end ones) depreciate as you drive them off the lot, particularly brand new. So, just like a car, huge savings can be had by purchasing used.

Availability

Believe it or not, for the highest end motorcoaches there's actually a waiting list. That's right, there's so much demand (one of the bright spots of COVID) that they can't build them fast enough. This has also driven up the prices in general of RVs, just like cars and homes. So you might be better off finding what you want in a used RV, instead of a brand new one.

Problems

Isn't there a bunch of problems with used RVs? Wouldn't it be even worse with high end motorcoaches? This question reminds me of one time we were camped out in the parking lot of the Marathon factory while they did some work on our coach. Right next to us was a brand new beautiful Prevost Marathon H3 coach. The grand dame of all motorcoaches, at least that's my opinion. I must admit I was a bit jealous thinking about how great it would be to own one, unfortunately I don't have the money so I own a used one, but that's another story. I got talking to the proud owner and he mentioned he was there to get a few things fixed before they departed. Three days later he was still there and explained that there was a bunch of things to get fixed, he didn't even understand all the features of his bus and they were helping him learn. Bottom line, even the brand new ones have issues. Marathon coaches are awesome and the gang in Coburg OR do incredible work and produce an awesome coach. But anytime you have such a complex system, you're bound to have issues that need to be resolved.

Another story reminds me of a good buddy who does not have any slides on his Marathon coach. Every time I share some story about my slides, or some leaks I had to track down, he reminds me that he never has that problem, he doesn't have any slides. So features and newness has to be balanced and traded off against complexity and cost. My coach is rather old (2001) but everything is easily workable on it and accessible. The engineers who built is really thought about the fact that some day someone will have to get in there and work on things. I'm sure I've opened up panels that haven't seen the light of day since my coach was built in 2001, but with just a few wood screws or velcro, it's all accessible and maintainable. So don't assume newer is better. With proper maintenance and particularly if you're willing to do some work yourself, you can save a boatload (or maybe an RVload) of money and really get yourself into the coach of your dreams. We did.